Srimad Bhagavatam #25: Pregnancy of Diti in the evening
Srimad Bhagavatam #25: Pregnancy of Diti in the evening
At a certain point, all the wives of Kasyapa Muni had children, except Diti, who became envious of the others and anxious to have children of her own. With this in mind, she approached her husband.
In this part:
Vidhura enquires further about Lord Varaha (chapter 3.14)
Diti becomes pregnant and the whole universe suffers
Diti approaches her husband at the prohibited time
Begetting a saintly child (the process of Garbadhana sanskara)
Two great demons are conceived
The demigods ask Brahma for help (chapter 3.15)
Brahma explains the cause of the darkness
The Kumaras visit Vaikunta
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Vidhura enquires further about Lord Varaha (chapter 3.14)
In the previous chapter, Maitreya narrated the pastime of Lord Varaha, combining details of the two appearances of the Lord. He mentioned that the Lord fought with the demon while lifting the Earth (which happened at his second appearance), and Vidura became desirous of hearing more details about this pastime:
“Śrī Vidura said: O chief amongst the great sages, I have heard by disciplic succession that Hiraṇyākṣa, the original demon, was slain by the same form of sacrifices, the Personality of Godhead. What was the reason, O brāhmaṇa, for the fight between the demon king and Lord Boar while the Lord was lifting the earth as His pastime?
My mind has become very inquisitive, and therefore I am not satisfied with hearing the narration of the Lord’s appearance. Please, therefore, speak more and more to a devotee who is faithful.” (SB 3.14.3-4)
Srila Prabhupada explains these inquiries in his purport:
“As referred to previously, the boar incarnation was manifested in two millenniums, namely Svāyambhuva and Cākṣuṣa. In both millenniums there was a boar incarnation of the Lord, but in the Svāyambhuva millennium He lifted the earth from within the water of the universe, whereas in the Cākṣuṣa millennium He killed the first demon, Hiraṇyākṣa. In the Svāyambhuva millennium He assumed the color white, and in the Cākṣuṣa millennium He assumed the color red. Vidura had already heard about one of them, and he proposed to hear about the other. The two different boar incarnations described are the one Supreme Personality of Godhead.”
To answer this question, Vidhura starts describing events that happened much later, during the Cākṣuṣa Manvantara, the 6th in the sequence. Many other important events described in the Srimad Bhagavatam happened during this manvantara.
It happens that Hiranyaksa was not an ordinary demon. He was an inhabitant of the spiritual world who was cursed to take birth in the material world as a demon and was conceived under extraordinary circumstances. This is thus a very mysterious pastime, that Vidura is anxious to hear in detail. Maitreya explains that knows about this pastime from hearing about a conversation that happened between Lord Brahma and different demigods.
Diti becomes pregnant and the whole universe suffers
Everything starts with Diti and Kasyapa Muni. Kasyapa Muni is the son of Marici, one of the nine mental sons of Brahma. There is no mention of when exactly he was born, but it is believed that he was born in the first Manvantara, about two billion years ago. Kasyapa is one of the great sages who live in the higher planetary systems, therefore such a long lifespan is not surprising. He is supposed to live until the end of the second half of the life of Brahma.
Prabhupada gives more detail about Kasyapa Muni in the first canto:
“Kaśyapa: One of the prajāpatis, the son of Marīci and one of the sons-in-law of Prajāpati Dakṣa. He is the father of the gigantic bird Garuḍa, who was given elephants and tortoises as eatables. He married thirteen daughters of Prajāpati Dakṣa, and their names are Aditi, Diti, Danu, Kāṣṭhā, Ariṣṭā, Surasā, Ilā, Muni, Krodhavaśā, Tāmrā, Surabhi, Saramā and Timi. He begot many children, both demigods and demons, by those wives. From his first wife, Aditi, all the twelve Adityas were born; one of them is Vāmana, the incarnation of Godhead. This great sage, Kaśyapa, was also present at the time of Arjuna’s birth. He received a presentation of the whole world from Paraśurāma, and later on he asked Paraśurāma to go out of the world. His other name is Ariṣṭanemi. He lives on the northern side of the universe.” (SB 1.9.8)
The Daksa mentioned by Srila Prabhupada in this purport is not the Daksa mentioned in the 4th canto (who lived in the first Manvantara), but Daksa in his second life, born as the son of the Pracetas and Māriṣā in the 6th Manvantara.
In his first life, before offending Lord Shiva, being killed and then resurrected with the head of a goat, Daksa had 16 daughters, 13 of which were given in marriage to Dharma (Yamaraja). In his second life, Daksa had 60 daughters and also 11,000 sons (the Haryaśvas and Savalāśvas), but these were all liberated by Narada Muni before generating any progeny. More details about this are given in the 6th canto.
Thirteen of Daksa’s daughters married Kasyapa Muni, including Aditi (the mother of the demigods) and Diti (the mother of the demons). Kasyapa became thus the son-in-law of Daksa and one of the principal prajapatis of the universe. It is described that through his wives, Kasyapa generated most of the population of the universe.
At a certain point, all the wives of Kasyapa Muni already had children, except Diti, who became envious of the others and anxious to have children of her own. With this in mind, she approached her husband:
“Diti, daughter of Dakṣa, being afflicted with sex desire, begged her husband, Kasyapa, the son of Marīci, to have intercourse with her in the evening in order to beget a child.
The sun was setting, and the sage was sitting in trance after offering oblations to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu, whose tongue is the sacrificial fire.
In that place the beautiful Diti expressed her desire: O learned one, Cupid is taking his arrows and distressing me forcibly, as a mad elephant troubles a banana tree.” (SB 3.14.8-10)
The desire of Diti to beget children was perfectly in accordance with religious principles, and she approaching her husband with this purpose was also appropriate. To beget a few children and properly educate them is the main purpose of a religious marriage.
The problem is that in her anxiety, Diti approached her husband at an inappropriate time, when he was performing his religious duties at the end of the day. Brahmanas are supposed to chant the Gayatri mantra and perform other duties three times per day, at sunrise, noon, and sunset. At these times one is restrictedly prohibited from being engaged in sexual activities.
Diti approached her husband at sunset. To justify her anxiety in begetting a child at this inappropriate time, she offered several arguments:
“Therefore you should be kind towards me by showing me complete mercy. I desire to have sons, and I am much distressed by seeing the opulence of my co-wives. By performing this act, you will become happy.
A woman is honored in the world by the benediction of her husband, and a husband like you will become famous by having children because you are meant for the expansion of living entities.
In days long ago, our father, the most opulent Dakṣa, who was affectionate to his daughters, asked each of us separately whom we would prefer to select as our husband.
Our well-wishing father, Dakṣa, after knowing our intentions, handed over thirteen of his daughters unto you, and since then we have all been faithful.
O lotus-eyed one, kindly bless me by fulfilling my desire. When someone in distress approaches a great person, his pleas should never go in vain.” (SB 3.14.11-15)
All the words of Srimad Bhagavatam have significance. Although Diti speaks while bewildered, the points she makes are generally valid. Just the time is inappropriate.
a) To beget children according to the desire of the wife is one of the duties of a husband. As Prabhupada explains in the purport, Diti was not exactly approaching her husband out of sexual desire, but because she desired children. It was thus the duty of Kasyapa Muni to satisfy her desire of begetting children.
b) She argues that by satisfying the desire of his wife and making her happy, Kasyapa would also become happy, since happiness in family life is based on the spouse being happy. Good children are also a source of happiness to the parents.
c) Good children expand the glories of the parents, especially of the father. Kasyapa is a very qualified man, therefore he is competent to beget such good children and give them a chance to practice spiritual life and go back to Godhead. As Prabhupada mentions in his purport, “Every human being should be given the opportunity to take advantage of his human form of life, and a father like Kaśyapa is supposed to beget good children for the purpose of liberation.”
d) In verse 13, Diti mentions how she and her other sisters got married to Kasyapa Muni. Daksa is very knowledgeable in terms of family life, and thus he was able to properly educate his daughters, in a way that when it came time for them to marry, they could choose a qualified husband. It is described that Daksa asked each of his daughters to understand to whom they were attracted and thus make a final decision about the groom, considering all factors. Kasyapa Muni was such a great sage that 13 of the girls were attracted to him, therefore Daksa made the necessary arrangements.
In his purport, Prabhupada mentions that “Generally the daughters were too shy to express their opinions before their father, but the father would accept the daughters’ intentions through someone else, such as a grandmother to whom the grandchildren had free access.”
e) The final argument of Diti is that when a distressed person approaches a great person, his pleas should not go unanswered.
Diti approaches her husband at the prohibited time
It’s understandable that Didi, in her bewilderment, approached her husband at the prohibited time, but Kasyapa being a great sage was supposed to control himself and make her wait until the proper time. Instead, he just tried to pacify her with gentle words, and immediately relented when she insisted. Srila Prabhupada explains the situation in his purport:
“Kaśyapa was engaged in his spiritual activities, but he did not have sufficient strength to refuse his wife, who was thus afflicted. He could have refused her with strong words expressing impossibility, but he was not as spiritually strong as Vidura. Vidura is addressed here as a hero because no one is stronger in self-control than a devotee of the Lord. It appears that Kaśyapa was already inclined to have sexual enjoyment with his wife, and because he was not a strong man he tried to dissuade her only with pacifying words.” (SB 3.14.16 purport)
When a common person commits a mistake, the consequences are usually not very grave, but when a great person, in a position of responsibility commits a mistake, the consequences can be very serious. An ordinary clerk making a mistake will probably just result in some small financial loss, but a king making a mistake can result in the destruction of the whole country. Similarly, a powerful sage like Kasyapa Muni can generate children that are very powerful both positively and negatively. In this case, the mistake resulted in two powerful demons being born.
Just like the words of Diti, the points made by Kasyapa Muni are generally correct, the problem was with the timing:
“O afflicted one, I shall forthwith gratify whatever desire is dear to you, for who else but you is the source of the three perfections of liberation?
As one can cross over the ocean with seagoing vessels, one can cross the dangerous situation of the material ocean by living with a wife.
O respectful one, a wife is so helpful that she is called the better half of a man’s body because of her sharing in all auspicious activities. A man can move without anxiety entrusting all responsibilities to his wife.
As a fort commander very easily conquers invading plunderers, by taking shelter of a wife one can conquer the senses, which are unconquerable in the other social orders.
O queen of the home, we are not able to act like you, nor could we repay you for what you have done, even if we worked for our entire life or even after death. To repay you is not possible, even for those who are admirers of personal qualities.” (SB 3.14.17-21)
a) The wife is the source of the three perfections of liberation in the sense that a good wife helps her husband in the performance of religious duties, economic development, and sense gratification. A wise man can use these facilities to peacefully advance in spiritual practice and thus attain ultimate perfection. By serving such a husband a wife also shares his achievements, and thus both are benefited. As Srila Prabhupada mentions in his purport:
“A faithful wife is supposed to cooperate with her husband in fulfilling all material desires so that he can then become comfortable and execute spiritual activities for the perfection of life. If, however, the husband is progressive in spiritual advancement, the wife undoubtedly shares in his activities, and thus both the wife and the husband profit in spiritual perfection.”
b) Life in the material world is very dangerous, and a man can easily degrade himself by falling victim to sexual adventures, as illustrated in the history of Ajamila. However, a faithful wife can protect one from such dangers by helping him to keep his senses under control and engage his sexual inclinations in a positive way to beget good children. Kasyapa thus expresses his gratitude for that. As Srila Prabhupada explains in his purport:
“The bodily senses are considered plunderers of the fort of the body. The wife is supposed to be the commander of the fort, and therefore whenever there is an attack on the body by the senses, it is the wife who protects the body from being smashed. The sex demand is inevitable for everyone, but one who has a fixed wife is saved from the onslaught of the sense enemies.”
c) A good wife is considered the better half of a man’s body because she assists the husband in performing all kinds of religious duties. Apart from elevated souls who have the inclination to the proper Brahmacaris and Sannyasis, practically everyone has an inclination for performing material activities. These activities can be purified by properly executing religious duties inside family life, and working with a spirit of detachment, as Krsna teaches us in the Bhagavad-Gita. Marriage is thus an institution that offers a path for one to gradually become purified and progress in spiritual understanding. As Prabhupada explains:
“Marriage is actually a duty performed in mutual cooperation as directed in the authoritative scriptures for spiritual advancement. Therefore marriage is essential in order to avoid the life of cats and dogs, who are not meant for spiritual enlightenment.”
d) For Brahmacaris and Sannyasis, there is not much space for mistakes. If one is not capable of controlling his senses, he can easily fall in spectacular ways. A householder on the other hand has the protection of his wife, which is compared to a general that protects a fort from plunderers. As Prabhupada explains:
“Without a fixed wife, a man becomes a debauchee of the first order and is a nuisance in society — unless he is a trained brahmacārī, vānaprastha or sannyāsī. Unless there is rigid and systematic training of the brahmacārī by the expert spiritual master, and unless the student is obedient, it is sure that the so-called brahmacārī will fall prey to the attack of sex. There are so many instances of falldown, even for great yogīs like Viśvāmitra. A gṛhastha is saved, however, because of his faithful wife.”
e) Because of all these different types of service, a husband has a great debt to his wife, which he has to repay by helping her to advance spiritually, otherwise there is no way to repay it. This point made by Kasyapa Muni is also true, but Prabhupada emphasizes in his purport that at this point he started speaking like a henpecked husband, excessively attracted to the beauty of his wife. Therefore he started speaking loosely in a mode of joke.
Begetting a saintly child
After making these points, Kasyapa Muni composes himself a little and starts speaking more soberly, arguing that although he doesn’t object to the idea of begetting a child, like Diti wants, they should wait for the appropriate time:
“Even though it is not possible to repay you, I shall satisfy your sex desire immediately for the sake of begetting children. But you must wait for only a few seconds so that others may not reproach me.
This particular time is most inauspicious because at this time the horrible-looking ghosts and constant companions of the lord of the ghosts are visible.
Lord Śiva, the king of the ghosts, sitting on the back of his bull carrier, travels at this time, accompanied by ghosts who follow him for their welfare.” (SB 3.14.22-24)
Diti approached Kasyapa in the evening when he was executing his religious duties. In verse 22 he argues that she should wait for at least a muhurta, so they would enter into the appropriate time. A muhurta is 48 minutes, but the word is usually translated as “a moment” or “a few seconds” because is not a very long period of time. He asks thus Diti to wait.
Lord Shiva walks around the earth during the time of sunset, accompanied by his associates, the ghosts and spirits. Using his three eyes, he can see everything, and therefore if he sees a couple engaged in copulation at this time, he uses the opportunity to send one of these associates to become their child. This is a blessing to the ghost who gets the opportunity of human life, but it is not very pleasant for the couple, who will now have to raise such a tamasic child. This is thus a kind of punishment for the couple for disrespecting him in this way. Understanding the situation, Kasyapa was afraid of this.
How does it work, and how to select an appropriate time?
The periods that mark the transition between night and day (daybreak and twilight) are called sandhyas. These are periods when one is supposed to chant the Gayatri mantra and meditate on the Lord and therefore are strongly prohibited times for conception. This is the time in which Lord Shiva walks around the world with his ghostly associates. Being merciful to them, he arranges for one of them to take birth from any couple who performs union at that time.
One of the main goal of family life in Krsna consciousness is to beget good children, and this pastime teaches us an important factor in this connection, which is to choose the appropriate time for conception.
The evening Sandhya ends 24 minutes after the sunset. It is thus not a fixed time but will vary according to the place and season of the year. To be on the safe side, it’s recommended to wait at least one hour after sunset. The allowed time for conception goes then up to midnight. After this time, the morning starts which is again a forbidden period. The scriptures mention that a man who performs sexual activities only at the allowed time during the night is considered to be a brahmacari, even while begetting children in family life.
Considering the first day of the period as day one, conception is allowed, according to sastra, from the night of the 5th day, up to the night of the 16th day of the cycle. Srila Prabhupada recommends from the 6th day onwards, and the Dharma Sindhu prohibits union on the 11th and 13th day (it’s stated that union on these days may result in an unfortunate or morally degraded child). Therefore, considering both, the available options are the 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 12th, 14th, 15th and 16th days.
From these, the last four, starting from the 12th are considered better to beget a strong child, being also the days that offer the highest possibility of conception, since they match the ovulation in most women. Union is also prohibited on ekadasis and days of fasting or festivals (that should be reserved for spiritual practices), as well as in the dawn, daytime, and twilight (as mentioned, one should wait for at least one hour after sunset).
Biologically, there are only five or six days in each cycle on which the union may result in a child, and from these, only three offer a high possibility. The idea offered in the sastras is to select a particular day to beget a child, which gives us the opportunity to perform Garbadhana samskara, chanting 50 rounds of japa and concentrating our thoughts on the Lord before conception. By following this simple process, one can invite an enlightened soul to his family. As Srila Prabhupada explains, at the moment of conception the mind should be sober and devotional (SB 3.16.35). The goal of all these regulations is to have the proper mentality and thus attract a powerful Vaishnava. This is an important point because once the soul who will come to our family is chosen, there is no coming back.
As Prabhupada mentions later in his purports:
“Before engaging in sexual intercourse, both the husband and the wife must consider their mental condition, the particular time, the husband’s direction, and obedience to the demigods. According to Vedic society, there is a suitable auspicious time for sex life, which is called the time for garbhādhāna.”
“There is a clear indication herein that a brāhmaṇa’s son is not always a brāhmaṇa. Personalities like Rāvaṇa and Hiraṇyakaśipu were actually born of brāhmaṇas, but they were not accepted as brāhmaṇas because their fathers did not follow the regulative principles for their birth.” (3.14.38 purport)
On the opposite, it is mentioned that Hiranyakashipu, the great demon, fathered Prahlada Maharaja because he somehow remembered the name of Lord Vishnu when he was with his wife. Remembering the Lord is thus the essential point that makes everything auspicious.
From verses 25 to 29, Kasyapa glorifies Lord Shiva. The exalted position of Lord Shiva is emphasized both in this chapter and later in the 4th canto when he is offended by Daksa. Although Lord Shiva plays the role of a demigod, offering material benedictions to demons and materialistic persons, he is at the same time the greatest Vaishnava, who blesses aspiring devotees so they can easily progress in the spiritual path and attain the devotional service of the Lord. Vaishnavas thus never disrespect Lord Shiva. Materialists worship Lord Shiva as the demigod, and in response, Lord Shiva gives them material blessings, while Vaishnavas honor him as the greatest Vaishnava, and receive thus the real blessings of Lord Shiva, which help them on their path back to Godhead.
Two great demons are conceived
Despite the good advice of Kasyapa Muni, Diti couldn’t control her impulses, which is described in verse 30:
“Maitreya said: Diti was thus informed by her husband, but she was pressed by Cupid for sexual satisfaction. She caught hold of the clothing of the great brāhmaṇa sage, just like a shameless public prostitute.” (SB 3.14.30)
Diti is a chaste woman, but she is compared to a prostitute in this verse because she is not able to control her impulses. As Prabhupada mentions in his purport, the characteristic of a religious wife is that she follows the rules of the scriptures, while a prostitute lives to satisfy her material urges. Kasyapa was also at fault for not being able to resist her advances, and thus a great calamity fell over the universe.
Srila Prabhupada uses this incident to illustrate the difference between a pure devotee and a great yogi or ascetic. As described in the Caitanya Caritamrta, Haridasa Thakura was similarly tempted, when a young lady sent by the king tried to seduce him in the dark of the night. The difference was that Haridasa Thakura was, by the power of his devotion, able to easily pass the test, while Kasyapa Muni failed, despite all his austerities.
Diti became pregnant as she desired, but she was afraid that Lord Shiva could kill the embryo due to the offense they committed against him. Therefore, she offered prayers to him, mentioning that Lord Shiva can become angry very easily, but he can also be pleased very easily, and therefore he could forgive her. Diti was not so much concerned for herself, but as a mother she was concerned for the child in her womb.
Diti calls Lord Shiva satī-patiḥ, the husband of her sister Sati. Kasyapa also referred to Lord Shiva as devaraḥ (brother-in-law), aluding to the same relationship. It appears thus that although Sati and Diti are Daksa’s daughters from different lives, they are still considered sisters.
The problem was however not the wrath of Lord Shiva. The extraordinary circumstance of such great personalities like Kasyapa and Dita failing to follow basic regulative principles created the situation for two great demons to take birth, Hiranyaksa, and Hiranyakasipu. Kasyapa could foresee this, and thus angered by the calamity spoke thus:
“Because of your mind’s being polluted, because of defilement of the particular time, because of your negligence of my directions, and because of your being apathetic to the demigods, everything was inauspicious.
O haughty one, you will have two contemptuous sons born of your condemned womb. Unlucky woman, they will cause constant lamentation to all the three worlds!
They will kill poor, faultless living entities, torture women and enrage the great souls.” (SB 3.14.38-41)
There was something good, however. Being such powerful demons, the sons of Diti were destined to be killed by Lord Vishnu, since none of the demigods or other beings in the universe would be able to oppose them.
“At that time the Lord of the universe, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the well-wisher of all living entities, will descend and kill them, just as Indra smashes the mountains with his thunderbolts.” (SB 3.14.41)
Diti saw her sons being killed by the Lord as a blessing, answering that it was very good that her sons would be killed by the Lord with his Sudarśana chakra, and just desired that they would not be killed by the curse of the Brahmanas before. This humble attitude also softened the heart of Kasyapa, who offered a blessing:
“Because of your lamentation, penitence and proper deliberation, and also because of your unflinching faith in the Supreme Personality of Godhead and your adoration for Lord Śiva and me, one of the sons [Prahlāda] of your son [Hiraṇyakaśipu] will be an approved devotee of the Lord, and his fame will be broadcast equally with that of the Personality of Godhead.” (SB 3.14.45)
Two pure devotees appear in the lineage of the demons: Prahlada Maharaja and Bali Maharaja, his grandson. These two great souls are an example for the whole universe, being counted amongst the twelve Mahajanas, the great authorities in devotional service. The whole purpose of the material creation is to allow the souls to come in contact with devotional service and gradually return to their proper consciousness. The way to be touched by devotional service is to come in contact with a pure devotee, therefore the Lord organizes for his devotees to take birth even amongst the demons.
Demons usually don’t have much interest in associating with devotees, since they are usually inimical to Lord Vishnu, nor do they usually have much opportunity of doing so. However, sometimes great Vaishnavas appear in demoniac families to benefit them. By taking birth in demoniac families, a devotee like Prahlada liberates 21 generations of ancestors and descendants, and benefits many others by their personal association.
Because of their presence, other relatives of Prahlada and Bali developed a devotional attitude, even tough demons by nature. Bali’s daughter, Ratnamālā, for example, developed affection for Lord Vamanadeva when she saw him, desiring to become his mother. However, when the Lord took away the possessions of Bali Maharaja, she became angry and desired to kill him. This led her to become Putana in her next life, from where Krsna accepted her service in feeding Him milk and gave her the position in Goloka Vrindavana after killing her body and thus destroying her demoniac nature.
Kasyapa then described the transcendental qualities of Prahlada Maharaja, which made Diti very pleased. As Prabhupada explains:
“Diti was very aggrieved to learn that because of her untimely pregnancy her sons would be demons and would fight with the Lord. But when she heard that her grandson would be a great devotee and that her two sons would be killed by the Lord, she was very satisfied. As the wife of a great sage and the daughter of a great Prajāpati, Dakṣa, she knew that being killed by the Personality of Godhead is a great fortune. Since the Lord is absolute, His acts of violence and nonviolence are both on the absolute platform. There is no difference in such acts of the Lord. Mundane violence and nonviolence have nothing to do with the Lord’s acts. A demon killed by Him attains the same result as one who attains liberation after many, many births of penance and austerity.” (SB 3.14.51 purport)
The demigods ask Brahma for help (chapter 3.15)
After understanding that her sons were two powerful demons who would cause great suffering all over the universe, Diti started postponing their birth, keeping them inside her womb for 100 years. The word used in the verse is varṣāṇi, which can mean earthly years or celestial years depending on the context. On ŚB 6.13.15, Prabhupada translates varṣāṇi as “celestial years” in the context of Indra running from the sinful reaction of killing a Brahmana. It seems that this also applies in the case of Diti since they were also not living on Earth.
However, despite Diti’s efforts, Hiranyaksa and Hiranyakashipu started creating trouble even from inside the womb, by blocking the light of both the sun and the moon. In this way, the whole universe was plunged into darkness. In modern astronomy, it is believed that all stars are like the sun, emitting light through a process of nuclear fusion, but different verses in the scriptures explain that the stars are from a different nature, mostly reflecting the light of the sun. In this way, the universe in the Vedas is described as much smaller than believed in modern astronomy.
In any case, the demigods were deeply disturbed by the darkness and went to Lord Brahma: “What is this expansion of darkness in all directions?” “Please look upon us mercifully, for we have fallen into a miserable condition; because of the darkness, all our work has been suspended.”
In their prayers to Brahma, they mention that “the influence of time cannot touch you”, “you know the intentions of all living entities, in both the spiritual and material worlds”, “O original source of strength and scientific knowledge”, “you are the cause of this universe”, and so on. These are praises that describe qualities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, which do not directly apply to Lord Brahma. Why thus the demigods address Brahma in this way?
This is consistent with other passages of the Puranas, where other demigods, such as Surya are also addressed as the Supreme Lord. The reason is that such great personalities are empowered by the Lord, and thus the prayers address them as representatives of the Lord, stating that the potency of the Lord manifests through them. In these prayers, Brahma is not being addressed as an ordinary demigod, but as an empowered incarnation. This is similar to what we can observe in the prayers to King Prthu, later in the Srimad Bhagavatam. Prthu is a saktyavesa avatara, an empowered incarnation, but he is also referred to as being the Supreme Lord, just as Brahma in this passage.
These prayers also reveal more details about the position of Lord Brahma:
a) Brahma is a guna-avatara, the incarnation of the Lord who takes charge of the mode of passion. Brahma is normally a jiva, but sometimes when there is no qualified jiva to occupy the post, the Lord Himself becomes Brahma.
b) The is tri-kāla jña, being able to see past, present, and future. In other words, the whole history of the universe is known to Brahma since the beginning.
c) Brahma is the head of all demigods, and thus, although the is not directly omniscient, it is not dificult for him to understand all that happens over the cosmos.
d) Brahma is called avyakta-yonaye, because he is born from the unmanifested, the Supreme Lord. “Unmanifested” in this case doesn’t mean He doesn’t have a form or doesn’t exist, but just that He has no material form. In this context, Brahma is also called “Aja” (unborn), not because he is not born, but because he has no material father, being born directly from the Lord.
e) The Vedas are originally transmitted to Brahma, who in turn spread this knowledge through the universe with the help of his sons. The injunctions of the Vedas thus control the inhabitants of different planets of the universe, just like a bull is controlled by a rope that passes through the ring pierced through his nose. No one can be happy in this life or the next without following the instructions of the Vedas. As Prabhupada mentions:
“Any living creature who wants real benefit in life must act according to the direction of the Vedic literature. The conditioned souls who have come to this material world for material sense gratification are regulated by the injunctions of the Vedic literature.”
“Those conditioned souls who have come to this material world should utilize their senses according to the direction of the Vedic literature; otherwise they will be put into a more miserable condition of life.” (SB 3.15.8 purport)
Being pleased with the prayers from the demigods, Brahma proceeded to explain the origin of these two great demons who were inside the womb of Diti. In reality, they were no one other than the two extremely powerful gatekeepers of Lord Narayana in Vaikunta, Jaya, and Vijaya, who had been cursed by the four Kumaras to take birth in this material world. This mysterious pastime is described in chapters 15 and 16.
Brahma describes that because the Kumaras are so pure, they can travel through the different planets of the universe and even to the spiritual world. Once, they went all the way to the Vaikunta-lokas.
There, they could see that all inhabitants have similar forms to the Supreme Lord, with four hands, and are engaged in devotional service without desire for sense gratification. In fact, there are no other engagements there apart from serving the Lord, and thorough this service all desires are satisfied.
The Vaikunta planets are also completely free from passion and ignorance. Everything there is spiritual and personal and the forests are full of desire trees. Just like Lord Vishnu has Lakshmi Devi as His consort, the other inhabitants can be seen in the company of their wives. Just like the men look like Lord Vishnu, the ladies look like Lakshmi. They travel in spiritual airplanes singing the glories of the Lord, and although they are all extremely beautiful, there is no sexual attraction between them. Their relationships are pure and centered on the service to the Lord.
Prabhupada mentions that when it is mentioned in the Brahma-saṁhitā the Supreme Lord is always served in His abode by many millions of goddesses of fortune, these goddesses of fortune are not exactly consorts of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but the wives of the devotees who are engaged in His service.
In the Vaikunta, there are is no difference between the human residents and the animal residents. They are all perfect souls who take different forms according to their relationship and service to the Lord. Just as the associates of the Lord, all birds, bees, and other beings constantly singe the glories of the Lord. Sometimes one stops his singing to hear the other. Not only the animals but also the plants are fully conscious, and there is no envy between these different inhabitants.
Brahma concludes his narration by describing that although the abode of the Lord is so wonderful, materialistic people, as well as impersonalists are not interested in hearing about it, preferring instead to talk about mundane topics and mental speculation. According to Brahma, such people are thrown into the darkest region of ignorance.
As Prabhupada mentions in his purport:
“The variegatedness of the Vaikuṇṭha planets is described in relation to the transcendental pastimes of the Lord. But instead of trying to understand the spiritual abode and the spiritual activities of the Lord, people are more interested in politics and economic developments. They hold many conventions, meetings and discussions to solve the problems of this worldly situation, where they can remain for only a few years, but they are not interested in understanding the spiritual situation of the Vaikuṇṭha world. If they are at all fortunate, they become interested in going back home, back to Godhead, but unless they understand the spiritual world, they rot in this material darkness continuously.”
Brahma explains that human life is so important and valuable, that even he desires to be born as a human being on Earth because, in the human form, one can easily obtain perfection. In the Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta we hear that Lord Brahma had the opportunity of taking birth on Earth during the pastimes of Lord Caitanya as Srila Haridasa Thakura, giving the perfect example of a Vaishnava. It is said that the human form is like a boat that can cross the material ocean. The spiritual master is the captain of the boat, and the instructions of the scriptures are like favorable winds. To not take advantage of such facilities is like committing suicide.
In this way, Brahma wants to make the demigods aware of the glories of the supreme abode and of its inhabitants, and at the same time inspire them to seriously practice the process of devotional service to eventually reach there. Typically, demigods have to go through a very long path before they can go back to Godhead, remaining as demigods for the whole reign of Manu (306.72 million years), then being promoted to Maharloka and from there gradually progressing to the higher planetary systems, and only eventually, after an extremely long period finally going back to Godhead. Brahma emphasizes however that there is a faster way.
The Kumaras visit Vaikunta
Starting from verse 26, Brahma describes the visit of the Kumaras to Vaikuṇṭha-loka.
“Thus the great sages Sanaka, Sanātana, Sanandana and Sanat-kumāra, upon reaching the above-mentioned Vaikuṇṭha in the spiritual world by dint of their mystic yoga performance, perceived unprecedented happiness. They found that the spiritual sky was illuminated by highly decorated airplanes piloted by the best devotees of Vaikuṇṭha and was predominated by the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” (SB 3.15.26)
The Kumaras were beyond any concept of “ours” and “theirs”, and just like children they had the nature of going anywhere and everywhere without any concept of trespassing. They passed successively through the first six gates of the Vaikunta Lokas until they reached the 7th gate, guarded by Jaya and Vijaya. It is described that they didn’t show interest in the wonderful decorations of these gates, or other things they saw. They were interested in seeing the Lord.
Jaya and Vijaya however didn’t allow them to go further, blocking their way with their staffs (vetreṇa). Somehow the gatekeepers had an inimical attitude, to the great sages, which is described as not being very pleasant to the Lord.
Although the Lord is the master of Vaikunta-loka, he always shows great respect to brahmanas and sages who visit Him, not only to give example but out of affection. We can see the example of the pastime of Sudama visiting the Lord in Dvaraka, for example. Even when Bhrgu Muni kicked the Lord to test His tolerance, the Lord received him with all courtesy. Similarly, the Lord was eager to see the Kumaras, but somehow Jaya and Vijaya checked them, which was inappropriate.
The Kumaras then became very angry, but this anger was not inappropriate, because it was connected with the service of the Lord. As Prabhupada explains:
“Here we can mark that even great saintly persons like the Kumāras were also angry, but they were not angry for their personal interests. They were angry because they were forbidden to enter the palace to see the Personality of Godhead. Therefore the theory that in the perfectional stage one should not have anger is not supported in this verse. Anger will continue even in the liberated stage. These four mendicant brothers, the Kumāras, were considered liberated persons, but still they were angry because they were restricted in their service to the Lord.” (SB 3.15.32 purport)
In this angry mood, the Kumaras spoke:
“Who are these two persons who have developed such a discordant mentality even though they are posted in the service of the Lord in the highest position and are expected to have developed the same qualities as the Lord? How are these two persons living in Vaikuṇṭha? Where is the possibility of an enemy’s coming into this kingdom of God? The Supreme Personality of Godhead has no enemy. Who could be envious of Him? Probably these two persons are imposters; therefore they suspect others to be like themselves.” (SB 3.15.32)
The Kumaras felt that Jaya and Vijaya were acting against the interest of the Lord and showing an inimical disposition that was not appropriate for Vaikunta, which is a place where there are no enemies. They judged that Jaya and Vijaya were contaminated by duality, distinguishing between friends and enemies, and were thus fit to be removed from Vaikunta and sent to the material world.
Prabhupada explains:
“Although, by chance, the doormen committed a mistake by checking the brāhmaṇas from entering the gate of Vaikuṇṭha, they were at once aware of the gravity of the curse. There are many kinds of offenses, but the greatest offense is to offend a devotee of the Lord. Because the doormen were also devotees of the Lord, they were able to understand their mistake and were terrified when the four Kumāras were ready to curse them.” (SB 3.15.35 purport)
Even though cursed, the main concern of Jaya and Vijaya was not to go to the material world, but to not forget the Lord, and thus they begged the Kumaras to not fall into illusion while going downwards in the direction of the material energy. At that moment, the Lord personally appeared at the door to solve the conflict between His devotees.
The Kumaras are able to see the Lord constantly in their hearts, but that was the first time they could see the Lord face to face. Before meeting the Lord, the Kumaras were Brahmavadis, more attracted to the impersonal aspect of the Lord, but when they saw the Lord and felt the aroma of the Tulasi leaves offered to Him their minds immediately changed. The difference between Brahmavadis and Mayavadis is that Brahmavadis are just unaware of the personal aspect of the Lord, and thus they tend to become devotees when they have the association of pure devotees or direct association with the Lord. Mayavadis on the other hand are offenders who envy the Lord.
“When the breeze carrying the aroma of tulasī leaves from the toes of the lotus feet of the Personality of Godhead entered the nostrils of those sages, they experienced a change both in body and in mind, even though they were attached to the impersonal Brahman understanding.
The Lord’s beautiful face appeared to them like the inside of a blue lotus, and the Lord’s smile appeared to be a blossoming jasmine flower. After seeing the face of the Lord, the sages were fully satisfied, and when they wanted to see Him further, they looked upon the nails of His lotus feet, which resembled rubies. Thus they viewed the Lord’s transcendental body again and again, and so they finally achieved meditation on the Lord’s personal feature.” (SB 3.15.43-44)
The attraction of the Kumaras to the Lord is yet another proof that devotional service to the Lord is the Supreme goal of all processes of self-realization. The Kumaras received from Brahma knowledge about the Jñāna-Kanda section of the Vedas, the path of meditation and philosophical pursuits. Although perfectly fixed on this path, they immediately became attracted to the personal form of the Lord when they had the opportunity to associate with Him. This again confirms what we already studied:
ātmārāmāś ca munayo
nirgranthā apy urukrame
kurvanty ahaitukīṁ bhaktim
ittham-bhūta-guṇo hariḥ
“All different varieties of ātmārāmas [those who take pleasure in the ātmā, or spirit self], especially those established on the path of self-realization, though freed from all kinds of material bondage, desire to render unalloyed devotional service unto the Personality of Godhead. This means that the Lord possesses transcendental qualities and therefore can attract everyone, including liberated souls.”